Phyrah's Pilgrimage
by emilythesmelly
Summary: Somehow, young blitzball-enthusiast/mage Phyrah and her friends Jai and Alexia get wrapped up in the Pilgrimage of Yuna, daughter of High Summoner Braska. Maybe it's more than just coincidence that they're travelling together. OC/Tidus, OC/Isaaru, OC/Clasko. Alexia belongs to xmayfly.
1. Chapter 1

"Some day I'll really practice," I said resolutely. "I'll be good enough to join a team."

Jai rolled her eyes. "Yeah," she agreed sarcastically. "You'll be a blitzball _star_." We laughed. "Come on; we should get to our seats."

"Wouldn't want to miss the filling of the sphere," Alexia agreed.

I hooked my arms in those of my friends and led them into Luca Stadium. I'd always been a huge fan of blitzball; my father, Karzov, had taken me to quite a few matches when I was young and taught me to play as well. He hadn't been an exceptional blitzer, but he'd shown me how to love the game. He also wasn't my real father. He told me I'd been left on his doorstep with only a name. He'd taken me in and raised me as his own, even though it was obvious that I had guado heritage. Funnily enough, people often said that we looked alike.

"I'm always just embarrassed when we come see the Aurochs play," Jai said as we took our seats.

"They're lucky they're playing the Psyches instead of the Goers this time," Alexia added.

"I'm sure it'll be entertaining at least," I replied with a shrug. The Besaid Aurochs were known as the worst team in the league and hadn't won a game in at least ten years. The Luca Goers were the best, and always a fan favorite. The Al Bhed Psyches weren't necessarily a bad team, but they were wildly unpopular. "The problem with the Aurochs is that they have no fighting spirit. They're okay with losing."

"I bet _you'd_ whip 'em into shape, though, right?" Jai asked with a cheeky grin.

I shrugged and let out a laugh. "I'm sure I couldn't hurt their performance."

"When was the last time they even scored a goal, anyway?" Alexia asked.

"Oh, stop. They can score, they just can't win," I said, trying to defend a team who probably didn't deserve it.

As fanfare began, Maester Mika started us off with some opening words. "Today, on this glorious day, players from all over Spira have assembled here to participate in this great contest of bravery, skill, and strength. All of these fine teams, equally renowned, deserve to win the cup today. Such is the nature of this contest. Let us, the spectators, play our role accordingly. Let us sing to the glory of the winners, and applaud equally the valour of the defeated. Contestants, may Yevon be with you." Everybody cheered, music played, and the sphere pool filled.

The players took their places, and the game began. Amazingly, the Aurochs were able to keep up with the Psyches. Three minutes into the first half, the score was 2-2. Some of the Psyches were being really aggressive with Wakka, the Auroch team captain, but the referee wasn't calling it.

"Poor guy's getting the snot beat out of him," Jai said, wincing.

The rest of the match continued in a similar fashion, but the score remained the same. It wasn't until there were only thirty seconds left in the match that the Aurochs launched an all-out attack on the Psyches. Letty through a long pass to Wakka, who caught it and scored the final goal of the game. It was a miracle, and much of the crowd cheered for the underdogs who managed to turn it around.

"That was amazing!" I couldn't help feeling second-hand bliss. I'd never really tied myself down to a favorite team, so I was happy enough to root for anyone.

The next game was about to start. We'd grabbed a quick snack and headed back to our seats. "This is it, folks," Bobba, one of the announcers, began. "In just a few minutes, the championship game! But who could have imagined a championship game between these two teams? Our legendary Luca Goers going against the horrendously ill-fated Besaid Aurochs!"

"This looks like history in the making, Bobba," Jimma added.

Both teams entered the sphere. Wakka had been replaced by someone I didn't recognize. He was facing the Goers' captian Bickson, who took a swing at him.

"They're already going at it, folks," Bobba remarked. "The Goers are taunting the Aurochs!"

Bickson swam away and the players took their places.

"Who's Wakka's replacement?" I asked.

"No idea," Jai said.

"Rumor is that his name is Tidus. No one knows much more than that, though," Alexia said.

"Whoever he is, he's cute," I admitted with a grin.

"Come on, Phyrah," Jai said as she elbowed me. "Head on the game no the boy."

He turned out to be the best player on the team. He was able to score a goal in the last few seconds of the first half. At the beginning of the second half, Tidus unleashed a really impressive shot that took out the two Goers blocking him. He made the same shot again, a little later in the game, the Goers still without a goal. The crowd went wild, and started to cheer for Wakka. It seemed only right that the captain should be part of the reestablishment of his team.

"Say! Where is that player going?" Bobba announced, drawing attention to an exiting Tidus. "He's leaving the sphere pool! He may be injured."

He probably wasn't, though, because Wakka entered the sphere and finished the game. We were all cheering when the horn signaled the end of the match. "Unbelievable! The Aurochs win, folks! This is one for the record books!"

Wakka looked exhausted as he floated on his back. Tidus reentered the sphere and swam up to him. All of a sudden, fiends attacked. The two blitzers defeated the ones in the sphere pool, but more were in the stands. Most people fled, but my friends and I stayed to fight. I summoned Boninio and it my best to help.

Maester Seymour called forth his aeon, which destroyed many of the fiends. It was an impressive display, and the pyreflies filled the stadium. We decided to stick around to make sure everyone was okay.

When we finally left the stadium, we were stopped at one of the docks. "Excuse me," an older man said.

"Sir Auron!" I said with a start, recognizing him as one of high summoner Braska's guardians. I bowed to him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Phyrah, sir. These are my friends, Jai and Alexia," I replied, confused as to what I'd done to deserve such an honor.

He nodded. "Thank you for assistance fighting the fiends in the stadium. Are you a summoner?"

I blushed and shook my head. "No, and I believe me I've been tested. Boninio's special. He_ is_ an aeon, but I've had him for as long as I can remember. I never prayed for him."

"How does that work?" Tidus, who had been with Auron before we approached, asked.

"I don't know my real parents. The man who raised me found me on his doorstep. He said Boninio has been protecting me since then. I don't really know where either of us come from," I explained.

"Where are you headed?" Auron continued. I was incredibly flattered by his attention.

"Back home to Bavolla."

"I believe I am to be headed in that direction also," he said. "It would be advantageous for us to travel together as long as we're going the same direction."

I bowed deeply. "That's incredibly kind of you. Thank you."

He nodded and started walking away. "I'm Tidus," the blitzball player finally said as we followed the legendary guardian through Luca.

"I know," I said with a small giggle. "You're a great Blitzer. Congratulations on the win."

He smiled at the praise. "Thanks."

"What you call that shot that you did?" Jai asked, coming upon on his other side.

"It doesn't really have a name," he said.

"I heard it was called Jecht Shot," Auron said, and Tidus grimaced.

"Like sir Jecht?" Alexia asked. Sir Jecht was another of high summoner Braska's guardians.

Tidus was about to reply, but a better look at Jai's face stopped him. "You're an Al Bhed." He seemed surprised.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that going to be a problem?"

He held up his hands and surrender. "No. I met some Al Bhed once that saved my life."

Jai smiled. "_E's rybbo du rayn dryd._"

His face scrunched at the foreign language. "Huh?"

She laughed. "I said, 'I'm happy to hear that.'"

"Hey, maybe you can teach me some Al Bhed," he suggested.

"I'd be happy to. Maybe you'll be a better student than Phyrah."

"_Cunno_," I replied with a hesitant grin.

"Sir Auron!" someone called out in surprise as we approached the lookout before Mihen. It was lady Yuna, Braska's daughter.

"Yuna," Auron said.

"Sir?"

"I wish to become your guardian. Do you accept?"

She was surprised, and Wakka, who was standing with her, said, "You serious?"

"You refuse?"

"No, no!" Yuna said hastily. "We accept, right, everyone?"

"O-Of course! No problem at all!" Wakka said.

"But why?" the woman on Yuna's other side asked.

"I promised Braska."

"You promised my father?" Yuna paused. "Thank you , Sir Auron. You're welcome to join us."

"And he comes, too." Auron yanked on Tidus's arm.

"Hi guys. Eh, howdy," he said awkwardly. I stifled a giggle.

"This one I promised Jecht."

Yuna gasped. "Is Sir Jecht alive?"

"Can't say. Haven't seen him in ten years."

"I see," she said slowly.

"You'll meet eventually," he added cryptically.

"Yes. I'm looking forward to it."

"This is Phyrah, Jai, and Alexia. They're headed in the same direction as we are, and they're talented fighters. I've offered to travel with them until our paths depart."

"Of course," Yuna said, finally turning to us.

I bowed to her. "Thank you, Lady Yuna. It is an honor to meet you."

"These are my guardians: Wakka, Kimhari, Lulu."


	2. Chapter 2

Jai, Alexia, and I sat on the stairs by the Ronso guardian, waiting for the members of the pilgrimage to discuss the journey ahead. Yuna and Tidus stood alone, looking out at the ocean. She was trying to cheer him up.

"What was up with that?" Alexia said, keeping her voice low. "Sir Auron singled you out, Phyrah."

"I know! I have no idea why that happened. I can't say I'm complaining, though." I grinned.

All of a sudden, Tidus began to laugh, loudly and forcibly. It wasn't a humorful laugh. It was just uncomfortable, and everyone stopped and stared at him. "You probably shouldn't laugh anymore," Yuna said slowly.

He didn't stop, though, and Yuna decided to join him. They both laughed until the yelling tuned into real laughter. "Too funny," Yuna said between laughs.

"It was your idea," Tidus replied.

"Umm, thank you," Yuna quickly added. "I want my journey to be full of laughter."

"Okay."

"If we should get separated, just whistle. I'll come running. I promise."

Tidus nodded. "Well, let's go." When they turned to us, we were still staring, uncomfortable expressions on our faces. "What are you looking at?"

"We were just worried you guys might've gone crazy" was Wakka's brilliant reply.

"Sorry," Yuna said. "Well, then, alright. Now, we will go to the temple at Djose. And guardians? Don't forget to smile!"

And so we set off down the Mi'ihen Highroad. There were some fiends around, but they weren't a problem. It wasn't long before an old man approached us. "Do you know what those ruins are from?" He pointed to the large pieces of rusting metal on the sides of the road, half buried and surrounded by tall grass.

"Some old city?" Tidus guessed.

"Correct. A city most ancient," he continued. "A terrible testament to Sin's power. I tremble every time I see them. Compared to Sin, humans are mere mud puppies!"

"But I believe humans are the only ones capable of defeating Sin," Yuna said.

"A good reply. I am relieved to hear you say that, m'lady summoner. Where are my manners? I am Maechen, a scholar, at your service, m'lady. I am on a journey, studying the history of our world, Spira, seeking its stories and secrets. My travels have taken me to many places, and I am troubled by what I have seen. Fragile smiles on people's faces crumbling at the mere mention of Sin. They are counting on you, m'lady. Give them a reason to rejoice once more."

"I will," she said, nodding resolutely.

We departed, and I found myself walking next to Tidus. "Hey," I said with a smile.

"Hey," he replied, returning the smile.

"How's it going?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know what I'm doing."

I laughed a little. "Why do you say that?"

"No one told you I'm from Zanarkand yet?" he asked, a bit of venom in his voice that didn't feel directed at me.

"Zanarkand?" I gasped. "Isn't it-"

"Ruins for a thousand years? Yeah, that's what they tell me."

I was quiet for a moment as I thought about what he'd said and what it meant. "What happened?"

"A couple days ago, I was playing blitzball for the Zanarkand Abes. Then Sin attacked and dumped me on these ruins. There was a girl that that told me what Sin was and what happened to Zanarkand. Sin attacked again, and I wound up on Besaid. Wakka asked me to join the team and brought me to Luca thinking I'd just been affected by Sin's toxin and would find somebody I knew here. Then I ran into Auron."

We were both quiet. "For what it's worth, I believe you," I finally said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm not a summoner, but I can summon an aeon. Yevon says that Al Bhed are all bad people, but Jai is one of my closest friends. My life is full of things that seem impossible." I shrugged. "I don't know how you got here, but here you are. What was Zanarkand like?"

He smiled, and I could see his eyes gazing at the memory of his far-off home. "Bright. And loud. The buildings were tall, and there were always people out, no matter what time it was."

"Wow. That's sounds like so much fun!" I said, imagining a machina city that never slept.

He laughed. "Really? Wakka doesn't think so. When I met him he said that the Zanarkand Abes couldn't have been any good because they would have been lazy."

I laughed and colored a little. "I'm a bit unorthodox. I mean, I believe in the teachings - well, _most_ of the teachings." I laughed again and rolled my eyes. "I guess that's the problem. It's supposed to be all or nothing. That's what Wakka believes, I'm sure. Most people do. I just can't think like that."

"Why not?"

"Jai has taught me a lot. She's shown me bits of machina and _tried_ teaching me Al Bhed. If what Yevon says about Al Bhed is wrong, which she's proven to me, what else isn't true?" I realized how much I was talking and blushed. "Was Yevon around in your Zanarkand?"

"No, we didn't have it. Hey, I'm surprised Wakka hasn't said anything about Jai being Al Bhed yet. Maybe he just hasn't noticed."

We looked over at the others. The blitz captain and the Al Bhed weren't walking near each other, and we breathed a sigh of relief for that. "Maybe he'll get to know her before he sees her eyes or realizes that her tattoo literally says 'Al Bhed' in Al Bhed."

Tidus shrugged. "I guess it's possible."

Three chocobos in armor with equally adorned riders approached us. "Lady Summoner, I presume?" the woman in the middle asked.

"Yes. I am Yuna."

"I am Lucil, captain of the Djose Chocobo Knights," she continued.

"And I'm Elma," the other woman said. "We've been charged to guard the Highroad."

"There have been reports of a large fiend appearing in this area with a taste for chocobos," Lucil continued. "Do take care, Summoner Yuna, if you are to rent any chocobos."

"Thank you. We will be careful." She performed the prayer.

"Good. We should get back to our rounds. Farewell."

"Our prayers are with you," Elma said, and they all departed.

"A large fiend," Tidus said slowly. "Let's go get him!"

"Why?" Auron asked.

"It's the right thing to do."

"It's the right thing to do?" Auron repeated. He laughed.

"What did I say now?"

"Jecht said that a lot, too." He scoffed. "And every time he said it, it meant trouble for Braska and me."

We kept walking, and I moved to talk to Yuna. "Hey," I said, coming up beside her and Lulu.

"Oh, hello."

"I just wanted to thank you again for allowing us to travel with you. I know we're sort of an odd bunch." I shrugged and smiled.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I'm part guado, and Jai is-" I looked quickly to make sure Wakka wasn't too close- "Al Bhed. Well, I guess you're sort of an odd bunch to look at, too." We laughed a little.

"I guess you're right," she admitted.

"My lady summoner!" someone called from the side of the Highroad.

"You're a summoner?" the little girl with her asked.

"Yes," Yuna replied. "My name is Yuna."

"I'm Calli," the little girl replied.

"Nice to meet you, Calli."

"Lady Yuna, are you going to bring us the Calm?" Calli asked as Yuna bent down before her.

"Yes, very soon."

"Yay!" The girl began running joyfully in circles.

"We're looking forward to another Calm, my lady summoner," the woman said.

"I'll do my best."

"And good luck to your guardians as well," she added. They said goodbye and waved as they departed.

Tidus asked, "What's the Calm?"

"The Calm is a time of peace," Lulu explained. "It comes after a summoner defeats Sin and lasts until Sin reappears."

"Huh?" he said, still looking very confused.

"Sin dies and is reborn," Yuna added.

"I get it!" Tidus finally exclaimed. "I thought it was weird. Yuna's dad defeated Sin ten years ago, right? But Sin's still here. Didn't make much sense until now. Wait... If it just comes back-"

"Don't say it isn't worth it," Yuna said forcefully. "Because it is. Even for a little while people can sleep in their beds without being afraid. That kind of time is worth anything. Don't say it isn't worth it."

I didn't envy Yuna the sacrifice that she would make in order to defeat Sin. To be honest, it sort of terrified me. Of course, I would have been more than willing to give my life as a summoner or a guardian, but I was secretly relieved Boninio was my only aeon.

As it seemed the Mi'ihen Highroad was an incredibly popular place, we soon came upon a man and woman arguing. "We'll defeat Sin any way we can!" he said,

"But, Yevon's teachings say-"

"Enough!" He walked away.

"I- I only meant to..." she said meekly.

"Are you alright?" Yuna asked.

"Lady Summoner?" she said with a gasp. They both performed the prayer.

"Yes. I am Yuna."

"It is an honor, my Lady. My name is Shelinda. I am a disciple of Yevon."

"What was all that about? The Crusaders' operation?" Wakka asked.

"You mean the one Gatta and Luzzu were talking about?" Tidus asked. Wakka nodded.

"I heard they were to use forbidden machina! I had to stop them," Shelinda explained.

"Huh? Why?" Tidus asked.

"The use of machina is strictly forbidden by the Yevon priesthood," Lulu explained.

"That's bad, ya?" Wakka said.

"Let them use whatever they want," Auron said cynically. "They still won't defeat Sin."

"But it's not about defeating Sin!" Shelinda protested. "The teachings of Yevon must be upheld."

"Yeah! Right!" Wakka agreed.

"But you don't understand," she continued. "The Crusaders won't even listen to me. And it's all because I'm just a lowly acolyte."

"Don't say that," Yuna said quickly. "Well, I haven't been a summoner for very long myself, you see. Still, I can't put myself down every time I fail. People are depending on me. They're depending on both of us."

This struck a chord. "Yes! Yes, you're absolutely right, my lady. Absolutely right! Thank you so much Lady Yuna. Now I feel I have the courage to finish my training."

We departed in high spirits. I walked with my friends and felt an easy comfort come over me. It wasn't long before we came across Rin's Travel Agency.

"We rest here," Auron said.

"_Naymmo_?" Jai asked, surprised. We were lucky that Wakka hadn't heard.

He was too busy protesting. "But this is an Al Bhed shop!"

"Is that a problem?" Auron asked coolly. I couldn't help but smile at the older guardian. He'd helped High Summoner Braska defeat Sin, but he held no hatred for the Al Bhed.

"They don't believe in Yevon, and in Luca they kidnapped Yuna!" This last bit worried me, but I didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Where were her guardians?" was his simple rebuttal. The embarrassment showed on every face but Kimhari's, who never showed much emotion of any kind.

"Sir Auron is just concerned about your health," Yuna said, stepping in to help mediate.

"I'm not tired one bit," he continued.

"Well, I am," Auron said, and he turned away and walked into the building.


End file.
